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#10 - JRL 8365 - JRL Home
Gorbachev undecided over Putin's electoral initiative

BARCELONA/MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has expressed a mixed reaction to an initiative announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at an expanded session on Monday that regional governors should be nominated by the head of state rather than elected.

"Of course, this initiative has positive aspects. But I think negative factors outweigh [the positive ones]. And what counts most is that this will undoubtedly limit people's rights, including the fact that people will lose their right to make a choice," Gorbachev told Interfax on Monday.

Expressing skepticism over a bill that envisions elections wholly on a party list basis, the former Soviet president said he is confident that "this bill is not needed now as the party system as an institution has not yet got formed in Russia, and this may become another step toward stripping citizens of their voting rights."